Meritorious Service Medal

• Awarded on: April 4, 2017

Hovak Johnston, M.S.M.
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Marjorie Linne Tungwenuk Tahbone, M.S.M.
Nome, Alaska, United States of America

Hovak Johnston and Marjorie Tahbone created the Inuit Tattoo Revitalization Project to re-establish an Inuit art form that was on the verge of being lost. Traditionally, tattoos were given to women by women as a rite of passage and to represent their family’s heritage. The project’s first six-day event in Kugluktuk, Nunavut, reconnected more than two dozen women with their culture and inspired a new generation to carry on this tradition.